Simon Wade
AN alleged murderer who was living in hiding for eight years has been arrested in Barcelona.
Dramatic drone footage shows the capture of the suspect who is believed to have shot a worker in the head during an armed robbery in Tarragona, some 100km away.
He was found hiding in a forest near a remote farmhouse in Castellvi de la Marca (Barcelona).
The man had led a double-life since the murder, even deceiving his partner and her daughter with a fake identity.
Sawn-off shotguns and other firearms were used in the violent robbery of a car and cash in 2002.
Workers at the premises struggled with the men and when a ski-mask was removed from one of them, the fatal shot was taken.
Advancements in forensic investigation techniques over the following years eventually revealed the alleged perpetrators, when DNA from the ski-mask was matched with a man already known to police.
Subsequent investigations uncovered a trail of 79 armed robberies and three other murders.
The man caught near Barcelona fled justice in 2012 before an anticipated jail sentence of 25 years was handed down.
Agents learned that several members of the man’s family had allowed him to stay in different properties in and around the area.
